39 replies to this topic

[KingShamus]

apples and oranges

Medical care is unlike any other good or service.

There you go, junior.

[Kickstand27]

apples and oranges

Medical care is unlike any other good or service.

There you go, junior.

right then..

I mean, aren't private food stores preying on people's need to feed themselves by jacking up costs? Isn't it true that the electric companies are preying on consumer's need to power their homes and businesses? What about Big Electronics? Aren't Dell, IBM, Apple and other firms preying on computer users' need to run sixty gazillion gig graphics cards for their WOW touraments?

say they arent alike..  but then compare them as if they are..  
?

its not only the goods that arent comparable, but the marketing all together.  

[KingShamus]

That was called exaggeration to prove a point.

You missed it.  As usual.

[Kickstand27]

That was called exaggeration to prove a point.

You missed it.  As usual.

to be honest, im not gonna read your full posts..  but skimming across that part was like WTF?

[KingShamus]

Well alrighty then.

You've proven your intellectual skillz once again.

[Kickstand27]

Well alrighty then.

You've proven your intellectual skillz once again.

actually i was just thinking that  it was kinda the same as you were doing..

not wanting to read the article the thread was made after, and then chiming in anyway..




but i digress

i cant wait to see what happens when the elderly demographic explodes and theres no way to take care of them because all of our politicians have cut medicare to balance a failing budget,  and after social security ends wont be able to afford skyrocketing insurace that they cant get anyway because of pre-existing conditions.

[KingShamus]

Yes, I am amazing.

[Kickstand27]

youve tgot a sense of humor, ill give you that

[juhakoo]

See, I know that you still have the option of going to a private doctor.  But doesn't that pretty much negate many of the arguments for a single-payer system?  "Our government-run health care is so slow and cumbersome, you'll go to a private doctor anyway."

More like "I'm very happy that we have public health care but since the private care is a perk of my job, hell yes I'll go for it." It saves me time and maybe gives somebody else a chance to see a doctor faster.

The latest treatments would involve a series of microsurgeries, a hospital stay and rehabilitation.  That costs money, but at least you can still jerk off effectively.  Why don't people choose the older, less expensive methods of treatment?  Because your health is worth more to you than anything else, so you're going to demand the best (and usually the most expensive) treatments available.

I'm not an expert here, but I doubt that most Americans have the kind of insurance that guarantees a helicopter ride to Mt. Sinai whenever you stub a toe. I'd also claim that the public hospitals here hardly have inferior equipment to private ones.

[TheHorseMaster]

The problem with libertarian poltical-economic theories is that they'd only work in a perfect world.
So forcing the creation of a multitude private for profit health care companies would somehow make all the problems go away. At least until, some of those companies have become strong enough, to begin consuming the others and expanding. Then in a matter of years you'd be in exactly the same position.

And while some of the lower cost of Canadian care is a result of subsidies, some of it is also the result of the government acting as a mass purchaser, and therefore being able to negotiate prices to something that the average person can reasonably afford. Another factor, is the fact that the government can't doesn't charge a consumer extra in order to turn a higher profit.

And if socialized medicine inevitability, leads to the impoverishment of countries and a massive tax burden on citizens, how come  Norway, which has far more expansive healthcare system than Canada or UK, rank higher than the US in both GDP, and personal income, with a standard of living substanstially higher than the US, in spite of, or largely because of the higher taxes.

If simply privatizing every government function, and attaching to it a profit motive, actually made it better, why not privatize the military, or the police or the entire justice system. And why is shamu more concerned about paying a taxe that would help keep other people healthy. If he's actually paying for health insurance it's basically already happening, but once again he's paying far more. If his employer is paying for it, it's just happening more indirectly.